Southern California -- this just in

Obama Facebook threat not a 'big deal,' woman says

November 12, 2012 | 3:11
am

The California woman fired from her job after using a racial slur to describe President Obama on
Facebook and speculating that he might be assassinated said she didn't think the posting was "that big of a deal."

"I'm not racist, and I'm not crazy. just simply stating my opinion.!!!" Denise Helms wrote on Facebook.

The controversy started Tuesday night. The Facebook statement by Helms, 22, posted
immediately after Obama's reelection, went viral and prompted
an investigation by the Secret Service about whether it was a true
threat.

"I didn't think it would be that big of a deal," Helms told FOX40 Sacramento
in an interview outside her workplace at the Turlock Cold Stone
Creamery. "The assassination part is kind of harsh. I'm not saying I'd
go do
that or anything like that, by any means, but if it was to happen I
don't think I'd care one bit."

As Helms' post continued to go viral on Facebook and Twitter, the
national ice cream chain began to respond to people who expressed
outrage over Helms' post.

"The employee is no longer w/the company. We were as shocked as you
were
by her outrageous & completely unacceptable comments," the official
Coldstone Twitter account responded to one user Thursday night.

The Coldstone store in Turlock, where Helms had worked for less than a
year, received more than 20 angry voicemails about the Facebook post,
store manager Chris Kegle told the Modesto Bee.

"We
found her comments to be very disgusting, and they do not reflect our
opinions here," Kegle said. "We never saw anything from her at work like
those comments."

The Secret Service said all threats or perceived threats are taken seriously and investigated, but it declined further comment.

If the Secret Service were to determine that her remarks were a legitimate
threat to the president, Helms would face a felony.